Gingerbread Boy/Girl Problem | STEM activity

Every year during the holiday time, my class does a Gingerbread Unit, where we read all the different gingerbread stories. We have a story matrix that helps us keep track of the characters, plot, and repeated phrases. Students get to discuss with their partners and class how each story is similar and different to each other. At the end, the students write an opinion piece about which gingerbread story was their favorite story. This year we incorporate this fun STEM activity for students to do in their "engineering team." 

In my class, students are already sitting in groups so creating their "engineering team" was easy. Before starting we talked about Engineers, the Engineering Design Process and what it means to work in a team. Each group member had an assigned job (recorder, materials manager, problem solver, and facilitator). 

Group #1 Boat

Engineering Design Process

1. Ask (What is the problem?): How can the Gingerbread Boy/Girl get across the river without having to go on the fox?

Group #2 Boat

2. Image (Brainstorm ideas): As a class, we discussed ideas and picked the best one. My students agreed that a boat would have worked.

Group #3 Boat

3. Plan (draw a diagram and gather materials): Before starting this part of the process, I introduced the materials to my students. 

Materials:

sheets of foil

feathers

pom poms

tape (length of my arm)

bubble wrap

dixie cups

pipe cleaners

string

popsicle sticks

You are not limited to these materials. These were just items I had around my classroom. 

3. Plan: After introducing the materials to the students, the groups started to draw out their diagram.

Group #4 Boat

4. Create (follow the plan & test it): Students then had time to create their boat and test it out.

Group #5 Boat

 5. Improve (discuss what worked, what didn't work, and ways to improve): This stage happened for some groups during their creating stage. As each group was building their design, I was walking around to each group and talking with them about their design. During our discussions, some groups noticed that they need to change their design a little. For example, they noticed that the foil when kept flat might get water on top, so they decided to fold up the sides.

After each group tested out their design, we had a class discussion about what went well and what didn't. We also discussed about items that were their for structure and function and the items that were just more of an appearance piece to make the boat look good.

Group #6 Boat

All of my students' boats successfully carried the Gingerbread Boy/Girl across the river. 

My students really enjoyed this STEM activity! It was wonderful to see them working together to create their boats.

I have so many ideas for next year to improve this activity. I created this worksheet for next year so my students have a organized place to record their diagram instead of the blank piece of paper I gave them this year. 

Click the picture below to download the worksheet

Lots of Love,

Katie

My Pumpkin's Teeth | Freebie Printable

How cute are these pumpkins on Pinterest!

Left photo source unknown        Right photo source: First Grade Blue Skies

My classroom art docent and I were brainstorming ideas for an art project for October and saw these super adorable pumpkins. After deciding on this project, I thought how can we add some math to it and came up with the Pumpkin's Teeth Math Problem. My students created a math word problem to go with how many teeth their pumpkin had. They really enjoyed this project! Here are two examples!

Click the image below to get the free printable.

Lots of Love,

Katie

Nouns & Verbs Activity {Creating Sentences}

For the past couple weeks, we have been focusing on nouns and verbs. We started off with learning about nouns and then moved onto verbs. This activity brought both nouns and verbs together in a fun way! My students had a blast during this activity and loved meeting with their peers. There are 16 noun cards and 16 verb cards. The cards have various words for different reading levels. You give half your class noun cards and half your class verb cards. If you have a class like I do of 25, I gave my 13 group the noun cards and the 12 group, verb cards. I had my students interact using the Kagan Structure: Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up! Students with the noun cards were the ones to stand up and the students with the verb cards were the ones to put up their hand. Students got to find a new partner and create a sentence using their noun and verb card. They recorded their sentence on the worksheet provided.

After this lesson, I thought this could make a great centers activity as well. Students can draw from a noun card stack and a verb card stack. Then, they would make a sentence using the noun and verb and record it on the worksheet. 

The best part about this activity is that it's FREE to you! Click the picture below to download!

Lots of Love,

Katie

All About Me Banner

The school year is about to begin and I've been getting my classroom ready for all my little First Graders. I noticed on Pinterest these super cute All About Me banners and thought this is a must for the first day of school. It is a cute way to get to know your students and it makes for a very cute room decor after. There are a bunch of cute ones you can find on Pinterest, but I decided to make my own so I could pick the categories. Download them for free on my TPT site! Have a wonderful school year!

Lots of Love,

Katie

DIY Chalkboard Clothes Pin Labels

When I went shopping the other day, I saw super cute chalkboard clothes pins. I thought I could use them for all sorts of things from labeling bins in my classroom to labeling/clipping student's writing on the wall. I turned over the box and boy were they expensive. I thought I could make these easily at home and so this project began. I had chalkboard paint at home that I had purchased a couple months back from Joann Fabric and Craft Store. If you haven't purchased this item yet, I advice you to go out and get some. This chalkboard paint comes in handy for many DIY projects. Don't forget to use a coupon when purchasing it. 

Materials: 

Plaid FolkArt Chalkboard Paint

Basswood 1/16" x 3" x 24"

Clothes pins

Ruler

*Box cutter

Paint Brush or Sponge brush

Pencil

*Hot Glue Gun & Glue

*Please be careful when using this tool. If needed, ask an adult assistance.  

Step 1: Measure down the piece of wood 1 1/2" using the ruler and make a small dot with the pencil. The width of the wood will stay 3". Do this on both sides and draw a line to connect the dots. With the box cutter you will cut on the line you created. You will be making 1 1/2" x 3" rectangles. 

Step 2: You have 3 choices during this step.

1st choice: You could paint the entire piece of wood you just cut out with chalkboard paint. Follow the instructions of the chalkboard paint you purchased (instructions will vary by product). 

2nd choice: You can free hand a smaller rectangle with the chalkboard paint to leave a border as seen in the photo above. Follow the instructions of the chalkboard paint you purchased (instructions will vary by product). 

3rd choice: You can create a smaller rectangle using tape to create a clean border. Using tape, place it around the edge of the wood to create a rectangle. Paint the inside of the none taped area. Follow the instructions of the chalkboard paint you purchased (instructions will vary by product). 

Step 3: After letting the paint dry, plug in the hot glue gun and wait for it to heat up. Once your glue gun is ready, place glue on the clothes pin were you would like the chalkboard wood to lay. Place chalkboard wood onto the clothes pin. 

Let it dry and you are all set to use them!

I'm planning to use them on my writing wall to showcase my student's writing for this upcoming school year. I'm going to write their name on the chalkboard area. I haven't decided if I'm going to put a tack on the back to hang them or use ribbon.

Lots of love,

Katie  

Orange you Glad it's Summer

Summer is coming fast. This is a fun way to thank the wonderful staff at your child’s school. Grab those snacks and make a cute yummy gift. You can use Fanta, Sunkist, Cheetos, Goldfish, Reese’s, Carrots, and so much more, just make sure it is ORANGE. Print this cute graphic on a brown or orange paper bag.

Directions how to print on bags can be found here.

Click the graphic above to get the FREE Printable

Lots of Love,
Katie



Thank You Sanitizer

 THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of my parent volunteers. I could not say that enough!!! THANK YOU!!!! These pocket hand sanitizers are a perfect gift for parent volunteers. I went to my local Bath & Body Works and got the hand sanitizers with the carrying case. Once they use up their hand sanitizer, they can reuse the carrying case.
Click the image below to get the FREE printable.

Click the image above to get FREE printable. 

Lots of Love,

Katie

Earth Day Pointillism Art Project

(left off the student's name for privacy reasons)

Although Earth Day is only once a year, we talk about keeping our earth clean not just on Earth Day but everyday. I truly have an amazing class this year!!! My kiddos are always recycling their bottles or picking up trash. I love how they really want to keep our earth clean. On Earth Day this year, we did a fun art project that incorporated a fun painting technique. My students got to learn about Pointillism and Earth Day all at the same time!!! They had a blast doing this project and sharing out their Earth Day promise. I hope you enjoy. 

Click the here to get the free printable. 

Lots of Love,

Katie

a MINION ways to show RESPECT

I first saw this idea on Pinterest from Learning with Mrs. Parker. I've been wanting to do this idea for awhile now but never could figure out when the right time was. I finally had the opportunity to do it when my school had us create a poster for our different Community of Caring trait. My class got respect. The students cut out and and glued the minion together. They created their own facial features and wrote a sentence on how to show respect. This idea can easily be changed and goes great on doors or on the wall. 

Click here to get the template of the minions. 

Lots of love,

Katie

Alphabet Cards

 

When looking for alphabet cards this summer, I couldn’t find ones that had all the features I wanted. I decided to make alphabet cards that fit my needs. They are super cute and functional. These alphabet cards have pictures with the name of each object, color coded vowels and consonants, and the print with handwriting lines so young students can see how letters are formed. I am so happy with how they turned out. I hope you enjoy them. Click the here to get the FREE printable of the alphabet cards.

 Lots of Love,

Katie

Spread Luck Not Germs!!!

Good ol' Pinterest! What was life like before Pinterest?!? I was at my local Bath and Body Works store getting air fresheners for my classroom when I saw these bright green cases and green hand sanitizer. I decided they were perfect for a little gift for St. Patrick's Day to the office staff and my grade level partners. I wanted to attach a cute saying but couldn't think of anything except Happy St. Patrick's Day. I know, boring right! I don't take any credit for this super cute saying. I found it on Pinterest and just made a cute printable for it. Click the graphic below to get the FREE printable. I added glitter to the word "luck" after I cut out each one. 

Click the image above to get the Free printable

Lots of Love

-Katie-